Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Jeremy Quin

Monday 14th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

The hon. Gentleman is right to identify the downward trend in part-time students, which actually started before the tuition fee changes. The Prime Minister has announced a review of post-18 education and funding, which will look into, among other things, flexible, part-time and distance learning, as well as commuter study options, to boost the options available to those who want to pursue such a course of study.

[Jeremy Quin (Horsham) (Con)]

I declare an interest: I read history. Many graduates see an advantage in returning to higher education to learn a STEM subject. What are the Government doing to aid those people in particular?

[Mr Gyimah]

My hon. Friend refers to the qualifications required for someone to be able to go back and study for a further degree. We have relaxed the “equivalent or lower qualification” rules to support students who already have a degree and wish to retrain in a STEM subject on a part-time basis. If my hon. Friend is contemplating an engineering degree in his spare time, the way is open.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Jeremy Quin

Tuesday 1st May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Quin (Horsham) (Con)]

T6. How are the Government supporting the growth and full geographic spread of degree-level apprenticeships?

[The Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation (Mr Sam Gyimah)]

The Government have created the £10 million degree apprenticeship development fund to support the development of infrastructure across England and to raise awareness of apprenticeships, among other aims. A degree apprenticeships website has been created by the National Apprenticeship Service and UCAS to highlight vacancies.

Prisons Policy/HMP Long Lartin

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Jeremy Quin

Thursday 12th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

Absolutely: our prison officers do a very difficult and challenging job, and when they are assaulted or threatened at work, we should follow the course of the law to its full extent. To do that—[Interruption]—if the hon. Gentleman would listen—there are a number of things we need to get right, such as collecting evidence, making sure that the local police force is on hand to investigate the crime, and then getting the courts to prosecute it as they should. We are working to ensure that those procedures are followed, so that when a prison officer is assaulted in their line of work, the full force of the law is brought to bear on whoever the perpetrator is.

[Jeremy Quin (Horsham) (Con)]

Clearly, the background to this disturbance will be investigated, but can the Minister outline what the Government are doing to prevent the use of drones to bring contraband into prisons?

[Mr Gyimah]

Drones are an emerging and serious threat to our prisons, especially as they carry an increasing payload as they develop. We are working with a number of drone manufacturers to use technology to stop drones, but we are also focusing on the law enforcement aspect. Before I became the Prisons Minister, there had been only one conviction of a person flying a drone into a prison. This year alone there have been 11 convictions of people flying drones into prison. That is because we are working with the Home Office forensics team, examining drones that fail, going after the perpetrators through the forensic work we are doing and ensuring that they face the full force of the law. It has become apparent that those involved in serious and organised crime are often behind such activity, and we are sending a signal that we will go after them.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Jeremy Quin

Tuesday 24th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

I understand that we have received thousands of responses to that consultation, and obviously we will be analysing the results. Once we are in a position to do so, we will bring further proposals to this House.

[Jeremy Quin (Horsham) (Con)]

T9. What is the Department doing to recruit high-quality graduates to forge their career in the Prison Service?